


Accident

by awgaskarth0805



Category: All Time Low (Band)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-17
Updated: 2020-02-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:06:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22779163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awgaskarth0805/pseuds/awgaskarth0805
Summary: Jack learns some tragic news, and Alex helps him deal with it.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	Accident

**Author's Note:**

> This isn't a request, this is based on my personal life, and what me and my best friend have been dealing with, that I decided to write a fic about. This is set in their junior year of high school.

“Last night was so fun, I’m glad we could take that trip to visit our college friends. It helped me to forget about some of the stress that I’m feeling from my dad’s situation,” Jack said as he merged onto a different highway.  
“I’m glad to hear that, man. How’s he doing? Did your mom update you before we left?” Alex asked, turning the volume of the speakers down some.  
“A bit, she said he picked up a minor infection after his latest surgery, but he was doing better earlier. She said that she didn’t want to ruin my Friday night, so we haven’t talked in much detail about anything,” Jack explained, anxiety in his voice.   
“Well, I know your dad, I bet he’s going to fight through this shit, and come out of it even stronger than he was initially,” Alex said, offering Jack a sympathetic smile, which Jack returned.  
“Thanks man, I appreciate it, and I hope that you’re right,” Jack replied.  
“Well, it’s good that your mom can be with him in Indianapolis at the hospital and everything, I bet that’ll make your dad happy,” Alex added.  
“Yeah, I’m glad that she can help him get through this. Hey, I don’t like this song, change it on my phone, you know my passcode,” Jack said, clearly wanting to change the subject.  
“Will do, I’ll put on some Green Day,” Alex decided, picking up Jack’s phone from the middle cupholder. When Alex turned on Jack’s phone, he saw a text message that made his eyes widen.  
‘Mom: Jack, your father passed. Call me when you and Alex get home.’  
Suddenly, Alex felt like a weight was on his chest, ad his stomach started to churn, making him nauseous. Alex slowly changed the song, feeling his body freeze up like he was about to have a panic attack.   
As much as he wanted to tell this news to Jack, Alex knew they only had about twenty more minutes until they’d be at Jack’s house, and he decided that the middle of the highway wouldn’t be the best place for Jack to learn this news. Once he put on Jack’s favorite Green Day song, Alex put the phone back into the cupholder.  
“Hell yeah, I love this song!” Jack exclaimed, turning up his stereo. Jack started to sing along to the song, and Alex did his best to do the same, but he couldn’t shake this awful feeling from himself. He knew that Jack would be more than crushed, and that a lot would probably change within Jack’s family. Alex knew that he wanted to do anything and everything that he could to help Jack and couldn’t help but feel anxious for Jack’s reaction in just twenty short minutes.   
For the rest of the drive, Jack continued to sing along to the songs that came on, and Alex sat in his seat, trying to act like everything was fine, despite the whirlwind of emotions he was now feeling.  
“Okay, we listened to some good ass songs in the last twenty minutes, and you hardly sang along with them like normal! That was lame, man,” Jack said, laughing some. He turned to look at Alex, and immediately stopped laughing when he saw the look of both anxiety and seriousness on his best friend’s face.  
“You look like you’re going to shit a brick, what’s up, man?” Jack asked, feeling extremely confused.  
“Jack, your mom texted you when I went to change the song. I didn’t want to tell you when we were driving, I, um, here,” Alex said, handing Jack his phone with shaky hands.   
Jack cautiously took his phone and went straight to his messages. When he read the most recent text message from his mom, he immediately felt like someone punched him in the stomach.  
“No fucking way,” Jack weakly breathed out.  
“I’m so, so sorry, man,” Alex said, putting a hand on Jack’s shoulder.  
“I guess, um, I guess I need to call her. Our bags-“ Jack started.  
“I’ll get our bags inside, you just worry about calling your mom,” Alex stated.  
“Thanks, I think I’m going to call her in my room, and I’d kind of prefer to talk with her in private,” Jack said, starting to tear up.  
“Absolutely, I’ll stay in the living room. Good luck, man,” Alex said back. Without saying anything, Jack walked inside, leaving Alex alone in the car. After taking a deep breath, Alex went around to the trunk, and grabbed everything they’d brought on their trip, then locked Jack’s car before walking inside. He set their bags on the living room floor, then took a seat on the couch.   
Alex pulled out his phone and texted his parents in their family group chat about what had happened. Alex wanted to do whatever he could to help Jack, but he definitely had some grieving to do, too. Ever since Alex and Jack had become friends, Jack’s dad had felt like a second dad to Alex.   
Alex hadn’t experienced much loss at this point in his life, so he didn’t really know how to feel about everything. There was still a heavy feeling in his chest, and he took some deep breaths to try and calm himself. As he read the texts for sympathy from his parents, Alex felt a few tears slip from his eyes, none of this felt real.   
Just a week ago, Alex was at a family dinner with Jack and his parents and was talking to Jack’s dad about how the Ravens were doing that season. Eventually, Alex wiped his eyes, and texted with his parents for a bit.   
Once half an hour had passed, Alex decided that it would be a good idea to check on Jack in his room. While he wanted to respect Jack’s wish for privacy, Alex didn’t want Jack to just stay in there and isolate himself with sadness. Alex knew that Jack would need some support, especially now, and Alex decided that he was as ready as he was going to be to give it.   
Alex slowly got up from the couch, and cautiously walked upstairs, and over to Jack’s room. The door was halfway open, and Jack’s phone was sitting on his desk. Jack was sitting on the edge of his bed, with his head in his hands, and sobbing loudly enough for Alex to start tearing up again.   
Alex lightly knocked on the door, making Jack look up some. He had tears streaming down his face and looked the saddest that Alex had ever seen him.  
“Are you still on the phone?” Alex quietly asked. Jack just shook his head as Alex walked in, and slowly sat next to Jack on his bed.  
“Jack, I’m so sorry,” Alex said, unsure of where to start.  
“It doesn’t feel real, man,” Jack replied in a broken voice.  
“It doesn’t feel real to me, either, dude. He was a great guy,” Alex said, wrapping an arm around his friend.   
“I don’t even know what to think, my head is in overdrive,” Jack said as more tears fell from his eyes. His sobs started to get loud again, so Alex pulled Jack close to him, and put Jack’s head onto his shoulder as Jack continued to cry.   
Alex started to feel more tears prick at his eyes, and he just let them fall as Jack wrapped his arms tightly around Alex’s torso. Alex shifted so he could give Jack a proper hug, and the two of them stayed like this for the next ten minutes. Eventually, Jack lifted his head some, and looked to Alex.  
“I got your shirt a bit wet, I’m sorry,” Jack stated, his voice cracking some.  
“Don’t worry about that, it’s okay. How’re you feeling, if you’re okay to talk some,” Alex prompted.  
“It really hurts, I’ve never felt this type of pain before. It feels unbearable,” Jack replied, attempting to wipe away his tears while more continued to form.  
“I can imagine. The closest I’ve ever felt to that, is when we put my dog down a couple of years ago. He was there through my entire childhood, and lived into the early years of our friendship, and losing him absolutely destroyed me, as I’m sure you remember. I know that losing a dog is very different from losing a parent, but I understand how something like this can feel like the end of the world,” Alex explained.  
“Your dog was pretty cool,” Jack said with a small smile.  
“He loved you, and he loved to see your dad when he’d drop you off for sleepovers at my place. Hey, they’re together now, and I bet Floyd’s been giving your dad kisses ever since he passed,” Alex said, making the small smile Jack had continue to tug at the corners of his mouth some.  
“I hope so,” Jack said back. He tried to take a deep breath to calm himself but ended up starting to cry again.  
“Fuck, I was trying to stop crying,” Jack mumbled, still trying to wipe his tears away.  
“Hey, don’t hold it in, you’re grieving, crying is totally normal. Cry for as long as you need to. Hey, so what did your mom say on the phone?” Alex asked, hugging Jack closer to him.  
“She told me what happened. He had to get spinal cord surgery after the accident, and that went okay, but he picked up an infection, and his body was too weak to fight it, which is mostly why he died,” Jack explained. His crying started to get loud again, and Alex put Jack’s head back onto his shoulder. Alex started to rub Jack’s back some, unsure of how to help.   
The last time that Jack was sad, it was because of a breakup with his girlfriend of one month, and Alex helped him by taking some of his parents’ liquor and having a guys’ night with Jack. Alex knew that this would be a lot more complex, and Alex was nervous that he wouldn’t be able to do anything helpful in this situation. After just a couple of minutes, Jack raised his head again.   
“Sorry, I didn’t expect that to happen again,” Jack said, shifting around in his seat some.  
“Don’t apologize, it’s okay. I know saying all of that must’ve been really hard for you, but I’m glad you told me,” Alex replied.  
“This is so fucked,” Jack mumbled, sounding more depressed than angry.  
“You’re right, this is really fucked up. It’s a tragedy, for sure,” Alex said back.  
“My heart hasn’t ever hurt this badly, it feels like I’m going to feel this way forever,” Jack explained.  
“I know, man, grief is a shitty thing. I know you feel like you’ll never be okay after this, and maybe you won’t be for a while, and that’s perfectly okay. That said, though, you’re not going to go through this alone, I’m going to be right here with you, and so is my family. We love your family so much,” Alex replied.  
“Thanks, Alex, I appreciate that. I just feel like I’m suffocating, this all just feels so unreal,” Jack stated, continuing to wipe tears from his eyes.  
“Take some slow, deep breaths. You’re not going to just be okay again instantly, healing takes time. Some days will be better than others, but while this is all still so new, it’s going to hurt like a bitch,” Alex explained in reply.  
“Well, it certainly does. I just wish I could’ve said a real goodbye to him. I just want to speak to him one more time,” Jack replied.  
“I know, I felt the same way with my dog, I just wanted to snuggle with him one last time. Jack, your dad loved you very much, and was proud of you. You’ve always been one hundred percent yourself, and I know he admired that about you. Your dad will always be with you in your heart, and he’ll always be looking down at you, proud to be your father. I’m not just saying that; he may be physically gone, but he’s with you until the end of time,” Alex explained, hugging Jack again.  
“Thank you for saying that. Also, thanks for being here with me, I don’t think I could handle this alone,” Jack said, starting to smile again.  
“Absolutely, man. I’ll stay here with you for as long as you want me to. This is going to be tough, but I’m not going to let you go through this alone, I promise,” Alex said in a sincere voice.  
“You’re the best friend ever. I don’t really feel any better, but having you here with me really helps,” Jack replied.  
“I’m here, now and forever. Do you want to stay up here, or go downstairs? We can do whatever you want,” Alex offered.  
“There’s some ice cream in the freezer, maybe we can eat that while watching South Park for a bit?” Jack requested.  
“Let’s do it!” Alex said, as they exchanged a smile. Jack wiped away more tears as the two of them got up and slowly went downstairs.   
Jack was nowhere near okay, and he really didn’t know when he would be again, but he felt grateful to have Alex with him. It’s hard to be brave and go through things when you’re all alone, so having his best friend through this tragedy gave Jack some hope that he would eventually be okay again.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, I wrote this up last night after a super long day, so I apologize if some of the phrasing is a bit off. I based Alex off of myself, and Jack off of my best friend, who lost her dad yesterday. I've known her and her family for 16 years now, so learning this news absolutely crushed me, so I decided to deal with it by writing about it. I know this story is much more sad than what I normally write, but I wanted to share it, because maybe it can help someone going through a similar situation (that's why any type of personal story I write goes up, with the hope it can help someone). I did the best I could to keep them in character while still having it reflect what's actually going on in my life, and while not giving out too many details of my friend's situation. Over the past few weeks, I was in a bit of a rut with writing, but have finally started to get out of it, so please send in requests!! I have one left to finish up, then I'll be totally out again. I hope that you guys enjoyed this story, hug your loved ones extra tight tonight. Lots of love, Liv.


End file.
